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Topic: Using maple sap in beer (Read 1866 times)

I have made a number of batches entirely with maple sap but not really paying attention to ph alkt etc. has anyone else made beer with it and what were your additions for all grain? My other batches were amber med body with two good batches and the latest not so good. Cannot find good information on the chemical composition of it to know what it may need for a great beer. Am going to be shooting for a pils this time.

I think you would need to have a sample analyzed. I also think you would need to pull your sample from the entire batch of sap you intend to use because I am willing to bet that two trees a few hundred yards from each other will produce different mineral and pH profiles.

it's going to depende on the ground water and I would think lot's of other factors like health of the tree and such.

I think you would need to have a sample analyzed. I also think you would need to pull your sample from the entire batch of sap you intend to use because I am willing to bet that two trees a few hundred yards from each other will produce different mineral and pH profiles.

it's going to depende on the ground water and I would think lot's of other factors like health of the tree and such.

that's very accurate.. i used to make maple syrup when i lived in vermont. every tree is different and produces different grades of syrup...all a factor of the tree,the soil and the water.

Other organic compounds in the sap include organic acids, amino acids, amides, ammonia, and peptides. The organic acids in the sap include malic (0.21%), citric (0.002%), and traces of succinic, fumaric and several others. The total ash (mineral) content of the sap is 0.66 %. Common minerals include potassium (0.26%), calcium (0.07%), silicon oxide (0.02%) and lesser amounts of manganese, sodium, and magnesium.

I have made a number of batches entirely with maple sap but not really paying attention to ph alkt etc. has anyone else made beer with it and what were your additions for all grain? My other batches were amber med body with two good batches and the latest not so good. Cannot find good information on the chemical composition of it to know what it may need for a great beer. Am going to be shooting for a pils this time.

curious - how much sap are you using to make a 5-gal batch of beer? 3% is a pretty good average for sap sugar content. hows it end up tasting as a beer?

I've made a number of batches with both syrup and all sap brew liquor substitution. I've never tested the pH or composition but then again I'm usually making a brown or porter and I have more to hid behind.

If I were going to make a pils with the sap the "water" profile would be more important for obvious reasons.

IMO I prefer the sap as it seems to be more woody and the syrup tends to make the batch sweeter and for lack of a better work syrupy...

Slight deviation here, but related, I suppose. Anyone have experience brewing with pine resin/sap? Seems like it could be a pretty powerful flavor so I imagine it should be used with caution. I'm going to visit my brother in Santa Fe and he wants to brew an amber utilizing local pinion pine in some way. Just wondering how to go about that.

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Beer is like music. I don't have a favorite. I'll take a well-made example of any style!

Slight deviation here, but related, I suppose. Anyone have experience brewing with pine resin/sap? Seems like it could be a pretty powerful flavor so I imagine it should be used with caution. I'm going to visit my brother in Santa Fe and he wants to brew an amber utilizing local pinion pine in some way. Just wondering how to go about that.

The usual warning is not to use pine in beer unless you want it to taste like turpentine. Just passing that along....

I make 70 L batches and usually end up using 85-90L sap in the batch (entire water bill)- the end product usually ends up fairly dry but slight maple /woody flavour - quite nice when it turns out. Will pay more attention to sg, pH, alkt etc of it - am fortunate to work in water/wastewater field and have a spectophotometer at my disposal - just need some funky reagents - would be neat to see if the composition stays in proportion and could just do an indicator of say alkt - will share what I find out - if anything - really appreciate ur input

Ok, here is the scoop on a sap sample pheno alkt 0, methyl alkt 75, pH 6.6, so4 2.0, cl- 9.7, mg 18, ca 114, mg as caco3 76, ca as caco3 290, P 1.34, tot ammonia 0 and forgot to do the iron. Does the alkt of 75, tot hard of 366 at a pH of 6.6 make sense? Am wondering if there are some interferences as these seem wonky!